Russell 3000 Consideration Could Propel Bitmine Stock, Says Chairman Tom Lee
According to Tom Lee of Bitmine, potential inclusion in the Russell 1000 index could drive significant investment from both active portfolio managers and passive index funds.
Bitmine Immersion Technologies, the Ether treasury firm, has appeared on a preliminary roster for possible entry into the Russell 3000 index, with chairman Tom Lee suggesting this development could generate positive momentum for the stock price.
On Friday, FTSE Russell, which operates under the London Stock Exchange Group umbrella, released a preliminary roster of companies being considered for inclusion in the Russell 3000, the index that monitors America's 3,000 most valuable publicly traded firms.
In a Saturday post on X, Lee indicated that Bitmine might qualify for the Russell 1000, which monitors the top 1,000 largest American corporations, given that the index requires a minimum market capitalization of $5.7 billion. At Friday's market closure, Bitmine's market capitalization stood at $10.15 billion.
According to Lee, "many active managers only buy equities on the Russell 1000," while also noting that approximately 25% of a stock's market capitalization within the index is typically owned by passive index funds or exchange-traded funds.
Should Bitmine secure a spot in the Russell 1000, the company would join the ranks of prominent American large-cap stocks, including technology powerhouses Nvidia Corporation, Microsoft, and Apple, and would likely prompt systematic purchasing by passive investment vehicles, offering conventional investors an indirect pathway to exposure in the company's Ether reserves.
Additional updates to the roster will be released by FTSE Russell on June 5, June 12 and June 18, with the reconstituted indexes becoming effective following the close of US markets on June 26.
Bitmine stock down 30% year to date
Bitmine Immersion Technologies (BMNR) shares have declined more than 30% since the start of the year, finishing Friday's trading session at $18.88. The firm revealed its strategy to establish an Ether treasury in July 2025. By July 3, the stock price had surged beyond $135. On July 14 of the same year, the company reported ownership of 163,142 Ether valued at approximately $500 million.
Bitmine's holdings stood at 5.28 million Ether as of the previous week, representing approximately 4.37% of Ethereum's overall supply, as the firm pursues its ultimate objective of controlling 5% of the token's circulating supply of 120.7 million. To achieve its target exceeding 6 million Ether, the company requires an additional 756,538 tokens in its reserves.
CoinGecko data shows that Ether has fallen more than 57% from its peak price of $4,946. The price decline has resulted in estimated unrealized losses of $7.3 billion for BitMine.
Nevertheless, Lee has maintained that Ether's significant price decline could present another purchasing opportunity and revealed last Monday that the majority of the company's holdings have been staked, generating annualized staking revenues totaling $289 million.